‘High jobless rate,others put economy in distress’

By Blaise Udunze
THE Director General of West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo, has disclosed that relevant macroeconomic and social indices show that the economy is in distress.
He stated this yesterday in his address, ‘Steering Nigeria out of Economic Turbulence: Policy Choices for Buhari Administration,’ at the inaugural lecture of the Centre for Financial Journalism in Lagos.
He reasoned that “the high rate of unemployment combined with reduced output in two quarters of 2015 suggest an economy in the sphere of stagflation, a prelude to recession.”
According to him, the structure of growth in the nation indicates an economy with positive growth trajectories, but no development.
Ekpo, who argued that the economy was on the tip of recession and with no strategy to fast track the required development, said President Muhammed Buhari administration lacks available blueprint, but based its strategy on the party’s manifesto, pronouncement by government as well as the draft 2016 budget.
Meanwhile, Ekpo noted that the nation’s economy is at the verge of recession because the global environment such as the slow growth in China and the sluggish recovery in Europe further worsen the situation, while noting that certain policies could cushion the effect of such a recession.